Set to serve

Summer sports are beginning to ramp up across the North East and Wangaratta regions, and the Wangaratta Lawn Tennis, Croquet and Pickleball Club (WLTCP) is no exception, capping off preparations for a blockbuster season. The premiers grass court facility in the region, the Merriwa Park-based organisation is hard at work making sure everything is in place for the start of their summer operations in October. WLTCP president Sam Allen has laid out a mammoth summer of tennis on the gorgeous courts, commencing with a junior open day on 3 October with the annual general meeting and start of competition a week later. “We’ve got a big season planned,” he said. “We’ll have a few things starting on 3 October, it’s our junior open day so we’ll have some coaching and comp info then. “In the afternoon we’ve got a social hit in our aggregate competition, and beforehand we’ll have a CPR and defib session with Ambulance Victoria at 12.30pm – we often do that just as a refresher. “On 10 October we’ve got our AGM, that’ll be on the Saturday afternoon, 12.45pm before we start our aggregate competition, and our junior comp will start on the same day, in the morning. “Our twilight competition will start on 12 October, two nights of twilight team tennis as normal.” The club is also poised to announce a new social evening program to cater to the growing number of players who don’t want to engage in the competitive side of the game. Allen said the club would try and cater to everyone, but the competitive drive among members remained strong among seniors and juniors. “There’s a decrease in people wanting to play tennis on a weekend, people are wanting to go away or just want to do other stuff on the weekend, less wanting to play competitive tennis and more of a shift to social play midweek,” he said. “Our aggregate has played socially through the winter and they’ve maintained good numbers – I think in some weeks they’ve had 25 players, so that’s really good to see. “If we can maintain our 30-40 players each week, that would be outstanding for the aggregate. “Our juniors went to another level last year, Michelle [Flynn] and her team were outstanding. “We reached a peak of 70 junior players on one morning, not including the coaching separately, it’s becoming a bit of a balance of court space when you start having those numbers, but it’s a good issue to have, that’s for sure.” The club is also hard at work planning their tentpole event, the annual Australia Day tournament, as well as luring other state events to the pristine courts. “The [Australia Day] holiday is on a Tuesday this year, so hopefully we will make it bigger and better, so we’ve scheduled to have four days this time,” Allen said. “Dal Zotto’s are back on board with us as naming sponsors, so plans will plan to start being discussed in the next month or two, and we’ll start moving towards that. “We’re also holding a Tennis Victoria junior tournament in the lead-up to nationals in Shepparton, that’ll be in mid-December. “It’s great to help put our club on the map and have people come from all over the country. “After Inter-Regionals last year, it helped people realise – we’re sort of tucked away down here, out of the way, and a lot of people drive through Wangaratta and don’t realise we’re here. “So every opportunity people have to play here is a good one.” The WLTCP AGM is set for 12.45pm on Saturday 10 October at the Merriwa Park clubrooms. For more information, check out the club’s website, wanglawntennis.com.au, and keep an eye on their Facebook and Instagram pages for the latest.

Set to serve

Wangaratta Chronicle, Wednesday, 23 September, 2026

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